“Merry Christmas! Did Santa come?” Annabelle asked, eyes wide and excited.

“I don’t know. I haven’t looked yet,” Blaire answered, smiling. “I made coffee,” she said to Simon and Kate.

“Bless you,” Kate said.

Kate looked terrible, Blaire realized. The circles under her eyes gave her a hollow look. Her shiny blond hair had lost its luster, and she was thinner than ever.

“Come on, Mommy. I want to see what Santa brought.”

“Okay, little one. I’ll pour a coffee and we can go see.”

Annabelle started to object, and Blaire came to the rescue. “You guys go in. I’ll bring the coffees. Is your father up yet?”

“Yes. He’s in the family room already.”

“Great. I’ll bring one in for him too.”

“Let me help you,” Hilda said, taking some mugs down from the cabinet.

Kate gave Blaire an appreciative look and took Annabelle’s hand. Blaire noticed that Kate barely glanced at Simon. The tension between them felt like an actual presence in the room. She poured the coffees and a glass of orange juice for Annabelle, grabbed a few biscotti she found in a canister in the pantry, and put everything on a tray. When she set it down on the coffee table in the family room, she saw that the Christmas tree lights were on. Kate had told her that Simon insisted they put a tree up for Annabelle’s sake. Blaire was glad to see the multicolored lights. Kate was obviously following her mother’s tradition. Lily had always said that white lights were lovely and considered de rigueur, but she didn’t care—Christmas trees were for children, and sparkling, colorful lights made children happier than plain ones.

Blaire walked closer to the tree, examining the ornaments. There were many from countries they must have visited, and some others that looked as if they might have special meaning. Blaire thought back to the Christmas of their senior year in high school, when Lily had given each of them an ornament—Blaire’s a lion to represent Columbia’s mascot, and Kate’s Handsome Dan, Yale’s bulldog mascot. Once again she was reminded of how much of Kate’s life she had missed.

“Thanks for the coffee.” Kate’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Come and sit next to me.”

Kate sat alone on the sofa, Harrison in a cushiony armchair near the tree. Simon sat cross-legged on the floor with Annabelle, surrounded by the pile of presents, and Hilda sat near them on a round ottoman. Blaire smiled as Annabelle began to tear off the paper, oohing and aahing at each present. There were dolls, stuffed animals, board games, Legos, and a shiny red bike with training wheels. Then Simon handed Annabelle a stack of presents all wrapped in paper printed with a design of animals wearing Santa caps.

“Books, right?” Blaire whispered to Kate.